Leap of Faith
by LRRH17
Summary: "What do you mean, they're not real?" Rey asks. Ben clenches his jaw. "Do you want to get out of here or not?"


**A/N: This is inspired by the half a second we see of the Knights of Ren walking down a hallway in one of the TROS TV spots. My first thought was, what if it's actually the Resistance pretending to be the Knights of Ren so they can escape the First Order?**

* * *

"What do you mean, they're _not real?_"

Ben clenches his jaw, the muscle below his eye twitching as he tries to hide his irritation. "Do you want to get out of here or not?"

Behind Rey, Poe and Finn exchange a look, but Rey keeps her eyes on him. He can feel her indecision through their bond. It wavers for several moments, then breaks, and finally dissolves into grudging trust. She nods.

"Come with me," he says, turning to a panel in the wall. He punches in the code and the door slides open with a hiss, revealing six costumed mannequins in the dark room beyond.

"I can't _believe_ you," she mutters, brushing past him. At her motion, the lights begin to click on one by one, illuminating the armor in a blue-white glow.

Poe laughs in disbelief. "I get the one with the axe!" He and Finn jostle each other on their way inside.

"Excuse me," Finn says, with over-exaggerated offense, "but _I'm_ the one who had to work here for twenty of twenty-two years of my life. The axe is mine."

Poe elbows him out of the way anyway. They both laugh.

Ben's heart hurts at their carefree easiness. Standing in this room, his Knights' armor around them, he remembers the days when he had someone to joke with and tease. It was never like this – never quite so warm and joyful – but with his Knights, at least he had people who knew where he had come from. They knew who he had been before all this. They had always been on his side, no matter what.

That was why Snoke had killed them all.

Rey catches that thought before he can tug it back from their shared headspace. "So they _were_ real," she says. "Just…not anymore."

He nods. "After they died, Snoke let me keep the title of their master. He would send soldiers out in these uniforms sometimes, just to keep the stories circulating. He and I were the only ones who knew the truth."

"So we can get away with this?" Poe asks.

Ben can't help himself. He smirks. "Depends. Can Rebel scum act like a Knight of Ren?"

For a moment, all three of them simply stare at him. He can feel his face turning red.

"Did you just make a joke?" Finn demands.

"…yes?"

The ex-Stormtrooper snorts. He grabs the cape off of the Kylo Ren ensemble before him and tosses it directly at Ben's face. Ben barely catches it in time.

"I just don't get you," Finn continues. "Why are you helping us? What's in it for you?"

That's the question, isn't it? Ben's eyes flick to Rey. Again and again, he finds himself protecting the people she cares about, even as they stand on opposite sides of a war.

"Get dressed," he says gruffly. "We don't have much time. Tell the others to meet you here."

* * *

Their boots thunk against the polished floors of the corridor, their capes flowing dramatically behind them. Ben walks at the front of the group, his fractured helmet set in place upon his head.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," C3-PO says, his high voice sounding odd as it comes through the vocoder of his mask.

Ben turns his head to glare at the droid over his shoulder. He had instructed them that they were not to speak, under any circumstances. Rose subtly nudges the droid with her arm, giving him a fearsome stare from behind her own mask. Thankfully, it does the trick. The group remains silent for the rest of their walk to the hangar.

They follow Ben up the ramp to the _Whisper's_ interior. The moment the door is closed, all six of them breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Ben removes his helmet. "In there." He points to the tiny 'fresher just off to the side. Rose and Rey shuffle inside and close the door behind them, though there is barely enough room for the two of them to stand, let alone remove their costumes. Ben averts his eyes as Poe and Finn change back into their own clothes, then help Threepio extract himself from the heavy outfit.

When they are done, Poe comes to stand just before Ben. He clasps Ben's shoulder briefly. "Thank you. You know, you're not as bad as they say you are, Solo." With that, he exits the _Whisper,_ Finn and Threepio following close behind.

Ben tries to hide the way that he flinches at that name. Still, he's nearly certain that Rey sees it on her way out of the 'fresher. She doesn't look at him as she and Rose depart as well.

Outside, they stand at the opening to the hangar, just behind the blue line that indicates where the oxygen stops. "Did he say when he'd be here?" Ben asks, unable to even speak Chewie's name after all this time.

Rose glances at her watch. "Soon."

She has barely finishing speaking the word when the _Falcon_ appears before them, the force of its flight buffeting them with a strong wind.

A shout from behind them makes Ben's heart stop. "There they are!"

He whirls around. Stormtroopers are streaming into the hangar, rushing towards the _Falcon._ Ben curses under his breath. They were _so close._

He turns back to Rey and her friends. "Go," he commands. "But you'll have to jump. He can't land it now."

They immediately spring into action. Chewie lowers the ramp; Poe goes first, leaping onto it and instantly turning to help Rose and Threepio. Finn follows after that, stumbling a bit on the landing.

Rey takes a step forward, then seems to reconsider something. Ben's heart pounds. The Stormtroopers are so close now that the _Falcon's_ power knocks them off their feet. She doesn't have time for hesitation.

Rey turns back, striding towards him with determination in her eyes. "Come with us, Ben. We can fight this evil. Together."

"Rey," he begins, "I don't – "

"Trust me," she says. "Just trust me."

She spins around and takes off without waiting for his reply, making it onto the ramp with ease. Ben can only stare after her, the ever-present conflict within him gnawing on his soul.

Then his grip on his helmet slackens. It falls to the floor of the hangar with a resounding clank.

Bracing himself for the leap, he follows Rey.


End file.
